Dell RecoverPoint Reviews

The primary use case for Dell RecoverPoint is when continuous data protection is necessary. It is required when the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) need to be zero, ensuring no data loss even during outages or disasters.

Dell RecoverPoint provides continuous data protection, which is essential in environments like banks, telecommunications, and e-commerce where data cannot be lost even for a single second. This feature is crucial for maintaining zero RPO and RTO, especially during any outage or disaster.

Dell RecoverPoint can be improved by virtualizing it, which would use less storage and enhance performance. The current requirement for physical storage is a limitation because it demands more storage space.

I have approximately ten years of experience with Dell RecoverPoint.

I rate the stability of Dell RecoverPoint as eight out of ten, which indicates it is quite stable.

I consider Dell RecoverPoint highly scalable, rating it as a nine out of ten. It is suitable for high-end environments rather than lower ones.

The technical support for Dell RecoverPoint is excellent. The engineers and software teams respond immediately once they receive a call, offering high-quality service.

Positive

The initial setup of Dell RecoverPoint is easy for someone who is an expert in backup administration. It involves a graphical user interface, and detailed documentation is available on the Dell website, making it accessible for tech professionals.

The ROI for Dell RecoverPoint is very high. For example, a bank experienced a disaster within ten years and was able to recover all data, avoiding substantial losses.

The price of Dell RecoverPoint is a bit higher because of the presence of multiple Chinese solutions in the market. Although the cost is higher, the recovery process is easier with Dell RecoverPoint, making it worth the investment for those who understand its value.

Based on my experience, I do recommend Dell RecoverPoint to other businesses. The environment requiring Dell RecoverPoint, such as banks or telcos where data equals money, cannot afford to lose data. The overall solution rating is eight, considering the competition from one or two more OEMs giving a tough time to Dell RecoverPoint.

The primary use case for Dell RecoverPoint is in the financial sector, specifically for banking and financial institutions. I use Dell RecoverPoint to operate our Data Center and Disaster Recovery systems. It is deployed to facilitate data recovery between data centers.

The most valuable features of Dell RecoverPoint are its ability to copy data from a source database to a target database, which ensures data protection. It operates seamlessly and efficiently, allowing for data recovery with no downtime during the copy process. The solution offers a clear operational structure, making it effective for use in disaster recovery scenarios.

Dell RecoverPoint is considered an older technology and is not recommended for new deployments by Dell EMC. It requires double the storage capacity for source and target storage areas, which creates a heavy burden on storage resources. This can be seen as a limitation as it may not be cost-effective in modern deployments.

I have been consulting with Dell RecoverPoint for about fourteen years.

Dell RecoverPoint has been stable with no internal faults or problems encountered while operating it.

Dell RecoverPoint can handle large scales of data, which is typical in the banking sector. However, its demand for double storage capacity due to its fundamental structure is a burden.

Dell support is robust, with geographically distributed branches and partner support. When issues arise, their global support is effective. However, I have seldom needed to contact Dell support regarding Dell RecoverPoint as it operates smoothly.

The initial setup of Dell RecoverPoint is a bit complex due to the required pre-configuration of journal areas on both Data Center and Disaster Recovery sides. With good planning, implementation can be completed in a couple of days, sometimes within one day.

Expert Dell EMC engineers are capable of handling the deployment efficiently through a GUI, easing operation management.

Dell RecoverPoint requires two sets of servers for both Data Center and Disaster Recovery, which can make it more expensive than other solutions. Its double storage requirement for source and target connections adds to the cost.

Recently, a customer purchased Active Server and A R C Serve for backup and recovery solutions. These products are new to the market.

Dell RecoverPoint technology was among the best solutions available. With many new competitors and advanced technologies emerging, its relevance has decreased. It is still regarded highly in historical deployments and for its proven utility over many years. I would rate the overall solution a 9.9 out of 10.

Neutral

Our primary use cases involve Dell RecoverPoint and Site Recovery Manager for disaster recovery purposes. We use Dell RecoverPoint specifically for shared clusters and continuous data protection, such as when there's a shared disk between two virtual machines that cannot be replicated using SRM.

The most valuable features include the ease of defining contingency groups and the drag-and-drop functionality, which speeds up our application processes. We have found Dell RecoverPoint beneficial for replication in situations where SRM cannot be used. Its intuitive user interface is also helpful.

In the future, I would like Dell RecoverPoint to evolve as an orchestration tool that can integrate with other replication tools such as Microsoft native replication and Oracle Data Guard. 

Currently, having multiple tools affects our RPO during a natural disaster, so a unified orchestration tool would ease failover and failback processes.

We have been using Dell RecoverPoint for this project for about six months.

Dell's technical support was very useful. They were helpful in resolving the issue we faced with the plugin.

Positive

Previously, we used tools like Carbonite for replication.

With VxRail nodes, we received certain default licenses for RecoverPoint. We primarily use Site Recovery Manager for the majority of our VMs and RecoverPoint only for a few specific uses. It's too early to determine its full impact on our operational costs.

I would rate Dell RecoverPoint a seven out of ten. 

Currently, I am not sure if I would recommend Dell RecoverPoint to others as we are only using it for a small portion of our VMs, while the bulk is managed by Site Recovery Manager. 

Once we fully operationalize it, we might be in a better position to recommend it.

Most replication products focus solely on replicating block data from production to your disaster recovery (DR) site. RecoverPoint's advantage is snapshots. You can recover data from up to ten minutes or ten hours ago on your DR side.

For example, if your production site data is corrupted, the replicated data on the DR side is also unusable. You need a good backup of the production environment. RecoverPoint's snapshots allow you to restore or view the image on either the DR or production side if data is compromised.

I've used both Dell RecoverPoint and Dell RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines.

During the first phase, I used the RecoverPoint appliance, a physical hardware appliance by Dell EMC. Later, I used RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines in a smaller capacity. I recommend it to clients as well.

The image backup feature is great. For example, if you set the journal to take a backup every ten minutes, it will create a snapshot or pointer every ten minutes for as long as you need.

It's very user-friendly. RecoverPoint has an excellent graphical user interface (GUI). I even prefer it over Veeam in terms of ease of use.

Everything is delivered at the appliance level. I recommend using dedicated hardware appliances. Once the development relies on physical hardware, the performance and operating system are very good. However, they are moving the appliance functionality into the virtual machine realm. If the cluster is down on the virtual machine side, you cannot restore your data or run your DR site until the cluster is back up. So, I recommend using physical appliances.

I have been using this solution for ten years. 

It's a very stable product. I've installed it in two zones, and I've been using RecoverPoint appliances since 2007.

For almost twenty years. Earlier versions did have some bugs – not many, but there were configuration or validation issues. However, it's a very stable product now.

A small IT team dedicated to data management and infra team uses it since they own the device.

I've worked closely with Dell since 2007. Back then, we could create a "Severity 1" case. I think they've discontinued that option. Now, you can create a "Severity 2" case. For Severity 1 issues, you can call the helpline. 

I've often recommended to Dell EMC Pakistan that there should be a portal option to create Severity 1 cases. Their engineers are good, but since COVID, many experienced engineers have left the company. This is a problem for every vendor, not just Dell EMC – they face challenges finding experienced technical engineers. 

So, while I recommend Dell EMC, sometimes they don't have the technical staff for very quick responses. In those cases, you might need to engage your account manager to find the best engineer on a Severity 1 issue.

Any replication product – Zerto, Veeam, or RecoverPoint – encrypts data by default. The appliance compresses and encapsulates data before replicating it. This reduces network bandwidth usage. When data travels across the network, it's encrypted, and upon reaching the disaster recovery (DR) site, the appliance decrypts it.

The deployment is based on specific principles. If you are very technical, you'll need to be trained by Dell EMC because they have to mark specific flags on both the storage side and the replication side. It's not easy for an end-user; they need Dell EMC or a similarly trained professional to configure it. That's why it's not easy. 

Basic tasks like creating a new LUN or replicating are straightforward. But the initial setup, where you receive the appliance, unbox it, rack it, and configure it, is difficult for a new user. However, I can do it since I've been trained.

While I recommend Dell EMC, it depends on your specific use case. Licensing is perpetual, meaning you buy it once. For example, you have 100 terabytes (TB) of data but only need to replicate 10 TB of critical transactional data. You purchase a license to replicate only that 10 TB. I wouldn't recommend replicating the full 100 TB – focus on the most critical data. Consider what your replication requirements are in terms of TBs, GBs, or MBs.

First, consider the criticality of your data. If you're a bank where you can't afford to lose any transactions, RecoverPoint is a great option. If you have a good budget, it's worth considering. 

Another excellent product is Zerto, which offers similar functionality. If you have a smaller budget, then Veeam replication is also an option. So, there are three options I've used, and the best choice depends on your company's specific needs.

Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. The main reason I recommend it is the ability to restore data from previous points in time. Also, RecoverPoint is designed to integrate seamlessly with Dell EMC storage. If you don't have Dell EMC storage, you can't use it with other brands like IBM or HP. If you do have Dell EMC, it works well. Another good EMC product is SRDF (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility); I haven't worked with it directly, but it's worth considering.

We have implementations in place for replication and for VM-based applications between Dell-based storages.

I have not done extensive research in this aspect, however, I find that currently, even with RecoverPoint, it has been very useful. I simply have to manage all the storage applications and everything. It performs even better than VMware SRM. 

Additionally, in terms of operational and financial benefits, in case of any disaster, it can recover.

I have used the solution for almost three years.

I would rate its stability almost a nine out of ten.

Once you implement it, scalability is easy. Implementation is tough, as mentioned before. Scalability is not a big deal.

I would rate customer service a nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup is complex.

In terms of operational benefits and financial aspects, in case of any disaster, it can recover.

The pricing of the solution. If it's SRM, VMware SRM was cheaper. Now it's subscription-based, so costs are rising. In comparison to SRM, it's cheaper.

The overall product rating is seven out of ten.

We are utilizing Dell RecoverPoint for replicating data between our Dell EMC Unity 400H and VNX 2250 storage arrays for the purpose of disaster recovery.

We employ Classic Area CoverPoint, in our setup. This configuration involves replication through a total of four appliances—two located in our headquarters office and another two at the disaster recovery site. This solution operates as CDP, which means it replicates data at the block level in real-time and the replication happens between our HQ office and the DLP. To ensure data integrity and availability, we utilize both synchronous and asynchronous replication modes, depending on the specific requirements of each scenario.

The most valuable feature of the solution is its duplication capability, which is its primary function and expertise. It excels in duplicating data between two distinct types of storage systems.

It is worth mentioning that this solution is no longer supported, primarily because it doesn't replicate between two different storage systems anymore. Presently, our replication is exclusively done through VMware Site Recovery Manager, focusing on replicating between two similar models.

I have been using it for five years now.

We haven't encountered any stability issues. I would rate it nine out of ten.

It offers good scalability features. I would rate it eight out of ten.

The initial setup was quite complex, I would rate it six out of ten. It required specific scenarios tailored to our case, and we had to open two support tickets to successfully complete the setup.

The deployment process took approximately seventeen days to complete. Initially, they set up the appliance, performed the necessary initialization, configured certificates for the IPs, and opened the standard firewall ports. The critical aspect of the setup involved installing the classic smooth replication, which required diligent attention, specificity, and determination. Any missteps could potentially result in wiping out the entire configuration, necessitating a start-from-scratch approach

We achieved about 80 percent return on investment.

It is considered quite costly. I would rate it eight out of ten.

Due to its outdated status, it's important to note that can only verify the pre-implementation scenario and deployment details. It's crucial to involve technical experts in the initial kick-off meeting for implementation because the process can be quite time-consuming. The system faced some initial challenges and took approximately seventeen days to become fully operational, causing some overall disappointment. It has been functioning exceptionally well since it was deployed. I would rate it eight out of ten.

Our clients are very happy with the product. The solution is used for data recovery from primary sites to secondary sites.

When it works, it is the best product that is available.

The recent virtual edition has a lot of issues with VMware 8.0. It only works on VMware. It is not available on any other platform like Hyper-V. It is one of the biggest disadvantages of the tool. Dell is not selling the appliances anymore. It's only selling the virtual edition. The vendor must make the virtual edition compatible with other platforms.

I have been selling the solution for seven to eight years.

I rate the tool’s stability a seven and a half out of ten.

The tool’s scalability is high. Our clients are medium and enterprise-level businesses.

The support is horrible. There are bugs in the solution that have not been fixed yet. The vendor said they would fix the bugs and release the product again. However, this has not been done. There is no designated timeline for it. The technical support must be improved. The turnaround time must be faster. The engineering team is not on its toes.

Negative

I rate the ease of setup a four or five out of ten. It is not difficult, but we must know how to do it. We need people who have experience with Dell products. The deployment takes days.

The price is moderate. I rate the pricing a five or six out of ten.

Zerto is one of the main competitors.

We have mostly virtual appliances. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The tool's most valuable feature is stability. 

I have been working with the product for three years. 

I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten. 

I rate Dell RecoverPoint's scalability a nine out of ten. 

Dell RecoverPoint's deployment is easy. 

I rate Dell RecoverPoint a nine out of ten. 

Our organization is a service order company. We install latency systems for our end customers. We use RecoverPoint on the front customer side as a solution to restore their server.

The solution replicates the production data for our customer. It is geographically specific from one location to another.

The most valuable feature of Dell RecoverPoint is when a customer has private data in their data center, from the replicator site and from the DL site, they can continue their production in the shortest possible time.

Another valuable feature of this solution is that it has a point-in-time recovery feature. If you have loose data, or if you have a cyberattack, you can go back to your production site from the past few minutes or even the past few months and the data will be unaltered.

The product does block-level replication very well.

Our company has an on-premise environment. Considering the speed Dell RecoverPoint can recover data, it would be good if we could replicate data from on-premise to the cloud with this solution. 

I have been using Dell RecoverPoint for five years.

This solution is stable. Bug fixes and updates are not frequent. I would rate the solution a five out of five overall for stability.

Dell RecoverPoint is very flexible in terms of scalability. In the software, you can go up to eight appliances. Currently, we have 10 customers using this solution.

When thinking about scalability, I would rate it a five out of five. 

There is a very good team who work on the Dell Technical Remote Support team. However, in a severe case, it takes too long for them to understand the severity. Because of this, I would rate customer service and support a four out of five.

Positive

The initial setup is neither complex nor easy. The solution requires some knowledge prior to setup. Deployment for our company required two engineers. 

RecoverPoint can replicate up to four sites in four locations in less than 15 days. In a complex environment with five sites, deployment can take up to 20 days.

The investment to purchase Dell RecoverPoint is high, however if anything goes wrong with your data, it can be recovered, making the solution a good investment.

I would rate it a five out of five with respect to ROI.

Most of our customers purchase three to five-year professional licenses. Support is an additional subscription. I would rate the pricing of this solution a three out of five.

Overall, I would rate Dell RecoverPoint a 10 out of 10.